Suggested Books

Suggested Books

Researchers identify oldest known case of heart failure in an Egyptian mummy

The oldest case of heart failure in a mummy has been identified in the remains of Nebiri, Chief of Stables, who lived 3,500 years ago in Egypt. Nebiri’s head and a broken canopic jar with his internal organs were found in a plundered tomb in 1904 and researchers were allowed to test the tissues this year because the jars were not intact.

“The head is almost completely unwrapped, but in a good state of preservation. Since the canopic jar inscribed for Hapy, the guardian of the lungs, is partially broken, we were allowed direct access for sampling,” anthropologist Raffaella Bianucci, told Discovery News . Bianucci is in the legal medicine section of the University of Turin.

The research team of which Bianucci is a part made the announcement at the international Egyptology conference underway the week of August 23, 2015, in Turin. Other researchers on the team are with the universities of Munich, York and Turin.

Nebiri’s remains, which were found in the Valley of Queens in Luxor, are now housed at the Egyptian Museum in Turin. Bianucci reported that he was about 45 to 60 years old at death. Nebiri lived during the reign of Pharaoh Thutmoses III, 1479 to 1424 BC, during the 18 th Dynasty.

The Valley of the Queens near Luxor, Egypt, as seen from a balloon flight (Photo by Zureks/ Wikimedia Commons )

The primary causes of heart failure are high blood pressure, metabolic disorders of the heart muscle, ischemia and valvular disease, Discovery reports. The researchers think the cause of Nebiri’s heart failure was hypertension.

“A systematic analysis of canopic jar content could help establish whether the disease was more frequent in our ancestors or its prevalence increased in modern times,” Bianucci said. Now about 20 million people worldwide experience chronic heart failure.

Nebiri suffered from severe periodontal disease with abscesses, which were revealed by a technology called Multidetector Computed Tomography and three-dimensional skull reconstruction.

The people who mummified Nebiri tried to remove his brains, but some tissues were still in the cranial cavity. The embalmers packed linen into his eyes, nose, mouth, ears, cheeks and skull.

The team of modern researchers saw limited calcification, evidence of atherosclerosis, in a carotid artery. “We saw only a tiny fleck of calcium. Since the rest of the corpse is missing, it is impossible to establish whether there was calcification in other artery walls,” Bianucci said.

An examination of the lungs showed he had what the research team called “heart failure” cells and evidence of edema or fluid collected in the lung’s air sacs.

“When the heart is not able to pump efficiently, blood can back up into the veins that take it through the lungs. As the pressure increases, fluid is pushed into the air spaces in the lungs,” Bianucci said.

The expertise of Nebiri’s mummification was excellent and rivals that even of royal people of the time, said Egyptologist Joanne Fletcher of England’s University of York. The high quality of the embalming enabled researchers to more easily diagnose Nebiri’s medical conditions.

The chemicals used to embalm him were sophisticated.

“It was a complex mixture of an animal fat or plant oil, a balsam/aromatic plant, and non-native conifer resin and pistacia resin,” said archaeological chemist Stephen Buckley of the University of York. “The last three ingredients contain strongly antibacterial compounds, so would certainly have helped preserve his body and lungs.”

Other researchers are working on reconstructing Nebiri’s face.

Featured image: The head of Nebiri with a broken canopic jar containing his lungs (FONDAZIONE MUSEO DELLE ANTICHITÀ EGIZIE/RAFFAELLA BIANUCCI)

Mark Miller

Mark is a Writer for Ancient-Origins He has a bachelor of arts in journalism and is a former newspaper and magazine writer and copy editor who s long been interested in anthropology mythology and ancient history His hobbies are writing... Read More

Register to become part of our active community, get updates, receive a monthly newsletter, and enjoy the benefits and rewards of our member point systemOR just post your comment below as a Guest.

Your name *

E-mail *

The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly.

Inspired by Ötzi’s fascinating story for survival, German filmmaker Felix Randau attempts to revive the life of the most famous natural mummy in history though a feature film. Der Mann aus dem Eis (...

The chariot is often associated with the ancient Egyptian civilization. It became a prominent weapon of war during the New Kingdom. In fact, it is often considered a superweapon of the ancient world...

Guachimontones (known alternatively as Huachimontones) is an archaeological site located in the western Mexican state of Jalisco. This is an important site of the Teuchitlan tradition, which was a pre-Columbian complex society that flourished in the western part of Mexico (occupying territories in the modern Mexican states of Jalisco and Nayarit).

Suggested Books

Top New Stories

Built by a king and his army to save a queen from the clutches of a rival? Or maybe a bridge to a land which led Adam to his atonement? While both of these ideas are far-fetched, current research suggests the Ram Setu link between India and Sri Lanka is not natural as most people have been told to believe, but is a man-made bridge which is thousands of years old.

Human Origins

Most people are now familiar with the traditional "Out of Africa" model: modern humans evolved in Africa and then dispersed across Asia and reached Australia in a single wave about 60,000 years ago. However, technological advances in DNA analysis and other fossil identification techniques, as well as an emphasis on multidisciplinary research

Ancient Technology

The chariot is often associated with the ancient Egyptian civilization. It became a prominent weapon of war during the New Kingdom. In fact, it is often considered a superweapon of the ancient world...

Ancient Places

Guachimontones (known alternatively as Huachimontones) is an archaeological site located in the western Mexican state of Jalisco. This is an important site of the Teuchitlan tradition, which was a pre-Columbian complex society that flourished in the western part of Mexico (occupying territories in the modern Mexican states of Jalisco and Nayarit).

Opinion

In 1626, a ship filled with folks from the Netherlands put into what would later be called New York Harbor and went about building a Dutch colony called New Amsterdam. The figurehead on the prow of their ship was none other than the patron saint of sailors, Saint Nicholas. The Dutch called him "Sinter Claes." Thus, "Santa Claus" came to the new world.

Our Mission

At Ancient Origins, we believe that one of the most important fields of knowledge we can pursue as human beings is our beginnings. And while some people may seem content with the story as it stands, our view is that there exists countless mysteries, scientific anomalies and surprising artifacts that have yet to be discovered and explained.

The goal of Ancient Origins is to highlight recent archaeological discoveries, peer-reviewed academic research and evidence, as well as offering alternative viewpoints and explanations of science, archaeology, mythology, religion and history around the globe.

We’re the only Pop Archaeology site combining scientific research with out-of-the-box perspectives.

By bringing together top experts and authors, this archaeology website explores lost civilizations, examines sacred writings, tours ancient places, investigates ancient discoveries and questions mysterious happenings. Our open community is dedicated to digging into the origins of our species on planet earth, and question wherever the discoveries might take us. We seek to retell the story of our beginnings.